The present invention, Alocasia ‘Kuching Mask’, relates to a new and distinct interspecific hybrid of Alocasia, hereinafter referred to by its cultivar name, ‘Kuching Mask’. ‘Kuching Mask’ is a new tropical plant used as a landscape and container plant in tropical and subtropical areas.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor at his nursery in Louisville, Ky. The overall purpose of the breeding program is to make selections of Alocasia plants with large, colorful leaves that are easy to grow in the nursery and landscape. ‘Kuching Mask’ arose from a cross make in June of 2015 between an unnamed plant of Alocasia longloba x odora as the female parent and Alocasia macrorrhiza ‘Borneo Giant’ (not patented) as the male parent. ‘Kuching Mask’ was selected as a single unique plant in May of 2016 from amongst the seedlings derived from the above cross.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by tissue culture using meristematic tissue under the direction of the Inventor in April of 2017 in Eustis, Fla. Propagation by tissue culture has shown that the unique features of the new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.